Impacts of Increasing Land Use under Energy Crops - Hydrology Data, 2006-2009

The study is part of the NERC Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. Future policies are likely to encourage more land use under energy crops: principally willow, grown as short rotation coppice, and a tall exotic grass Miscanthus. These crops will contribute to the UK's commitment to reduce CO2 emissions. However, it is not clear how decisions about appropriate areas for growing the crops, based on climate, soil and water, should be balanced against impacts on the landscape, social acceptance, biodiversity and the rural economy. This project integrated social, economic, hydrology and biodiversity studies in an interdisciplinary approach to assessing the impact of converting land to Miscanthus grass and short-rotation coppice (SRC) willows. Two contrasting farming systems were focused on: the arable-dominated East Midlands; and grassland-dominated South West England. This data set consists of various hydrological measurements taken over two years of instrumental monitoring in fields of both crops. GIS and biodiversity survey datasets are also available through the CEH Information Gateway. The public attidues questionnaire data from this study are available at the UK Data Archive under study number 6615 (see online resources). Further documentation for this study may be found through the RELU Knowledge Portal and the project's ESRC funding award web page (see online resources).